Comparison Wasting

Filipinos, or Pinoys, waste 1.2 million tons of rice each day. That amounts to a spoonful of rice per person, according to this article in the Philippine Star. In response, the Filipino government has launched a rice conservation program and an advocacy campaign.

Well, folks, we Americans waste about 40 percent of all the food we produce and I’m still waiting for the big federal food conservation program. And the advocacy campaign.

Certainly, the two countries are dramatically different, but so is the level of waste. Compare one spoonful of rice with American per meal waste estimates: 0.35 pounds per student at colleges, 0.6 pounds per person at hospitals and a full pound per person at conferences.

Note: These estimates come from John F. Conolly and Associates, a consulting firm with six years of experience helping businesses reduce their food waste. They are on page 5 of this report mapping Massachusetts’ food waste.